The Kara Koyunlu or Qara Qoyunlu, also called the Black Sheep Turkomans (Persian: Qara Qoyunlu, قرا قویونلو), were a Shia[4]Oghuz Turkic tribal federation that ruled over the territory comprising the present-day Azerbaijan, Armenia (1406), north-western Iran, eastern Turkey and Iraq from about 1375 to 1468.

Wheel of eternity video

Armenia

In size about 70% of the area of the country the Netherlands.
Inhabitants: about 3+ million.

The high mountain peaks are:

Aragats – 4090 meters above sea level

Kaputjugh – 3906 meters above sea level

Azdahak – 3598 meters above sea level

Spitakasar – 3555 meters above sea level

Vardenis – 3522 meters above sea level

The Principle Rivers of Armenia are:

Araks – 158km in the territory of Armenia (total length – 1072km)

Akhuryan – 186km in the territory of Armenia

Vorotan – 119km in the territory of Armenia (total length – 179km)

Debed – 152km in the territory of Armenia (total length – 178km)

Hrazdan – 141km in the territory of Armenia

Aghstev – 99km in the territory of Armenia (total length – 133km)

The Principle Lakes of Armenia are:

Lake Sevan with an area of 1239 square km and found 1898 meters above sea level

Lake Arpi with an area of 22 square km and found 2025 meters above sea level

Lake Akna with an area of 0.53 square km and found 3030 meters above sea level

Lake Sev with an area of 2.0 square km and found 2666 meters above sea level

The Political Structure of Armenia:

The Republic of Armenia is an independent, democratic, social and legal entity.

The President of the Republic is its Head of State empowered with the greatest of authorities.

The President of the Republic of Armenia is the guarantor of the country’s independence and territorial integrity and security.The Prime Minister is the Head of Government.The members of the National Assembly make up the Supreme Legislative Body.

The Capital City is Yerevan.The Monetary Unit is the Armenian Dram.

The State Religion is Christianity (Armenian Orthodox)

Newroz or Nawroz[1] (Kurdish: نه‌ورۆز/Newroz/Nawroz, also: Gulus[2]Kurdish: گوڵوس) refers to the celebration of the traditional Iranian new year holiday of Newroz in Kurdish society. In Kurdish legend, the holiday celebrates the deliverance of the Kurds from a tyrant, and it is seen as another way of demonstrating support for the Kurdish cause.[3][4][5][6][7][8] The celebration coincides with theNorthward equinox which falls mainly on 21 March[9] and the festival is held usually between 18 and 24 March. The festival currently has an important place in the terms of Kurdish identity for the majority of Kurds, mostly in Turkey and Syria.[3][4][5][7] Though celebrations vary, people generally gather together to welcome the coming of spring; people wear coloured clothes and dance together

Vishaps (Vishapakar Վիշապաքար)

“Dragon stones” (Arm. vishapakar) are stelae carved with animal imagery found in the high-altitude summer pastures of modern Armenia and neighboring regions (Javakheti/Trialeti, Nakhijevan, Erzurum/Kars). Evidently, the dragon stones are highly symbolic artifacts. Their name may be connected to local folk tales where dragons are monstrous giants living in the mountains or, perhaps, it may be due to a misunderstanding of the imagery carved on them.

The Armenian calendar is the traditional calendar of Armenia. It was used in Old Armenia during the time before the arrival of Christianity. It is a solar calendar based on the same system as the ancient Egyptian model, having an invariant 365-day year with no leap year rule. As a result, the correspondence between it and the Julian calendar slowly changes over time (such as year 769 on AD 1320 January 1, year 770 on AD 1320 December 31, and year 1032 on AD 1582 October 27 = Gregorian November 6). Some references report that the first month of the year, Navasard, corresponds to the start of Spring in the northern hemisphere, but that was only true from the 9th through 10th centuries.

Armenian year 1461 (Gregorian year 2010–2011) is the last of the great Armenian cycle of 1,461 wandering years which equal 1,460 Julian years (see Sothic cycle). The next year, 1462, begins on 24 July 2012 (Gregorian), 11 July (Julian). Armenian year 1 began on 11 July AD 552 (Julian).

The ancient Armenian year consisted of 12 months of 30 days each, plus a 13th month called epagomenê containing 5 days in a regular year, or 6 days in a leap year.[citation needed]

Years are given in the Armenian alphabet by the letters ԹՎ, a siglum for t’vin “in the year” followed by the year in Armenian numerals. For example, “in the year 1455” would be written ԹՎ ՌՆԾԵ.

OLD Armenian month names are in a genitive form (governed by amis):‘(month) of (the) x’. for example նաւասարդ-ի /nawasard-i/ ‘(month) of the New Year’, amseannnawasardi ‘month of Nawasard’ borrowed from Perso-Aryan *naṷasard-a-.

I. նաւասարդ-ի /nawasard-i

II. հոռի /hoṙ-i

III. սահմի /sahm-i

IV. տրէ /trē

V. քաղոց /kʿało-cʿ

VI. արաց /ara-cʿ

VII. մեհեկան-ի /mehekan-i

VIII. արեգ /areg

IX. ահեկան-ի /ahekan-i

Names of the days in a months

The Armenian calendar names the days of the month instead of numbering them:

Like the Perso-Aryan system of day-names, the Armenians named
the days of their month; each month has 30 days. Here is the list of
the day names as given by Ł. Ališan in his Ancient faith or the Pagan
Religion of the Armenians:

16. Մանի /mani/
17. Ասակ /asak/
18. Մասիս /masis/
19. Անահիտ /anahit/ Goddess. In the Persian calendar, Anāhīd is neither the name of a month nor that of a day.
20. Արագած /aragac/ name of a mountain in Armenia.

21. Գրգոռ /grgoṙ/ or Գորգոր /gorgor/ name of a mountain in Armenia.
22. Կորդուիք /korduikʿ/ or Կորդի /kordi/ name of a district in Armenia.
23. Ծմակ /cmak/ a place /name in Armenia.
24. Լուսնակ /lusnak/

The morning epoch is the Armenian calendric norm, that is, the
days are reckoned from the sunrise. The days and nights are divided in
four parts of three hours, respectively.

The night consists of four
watches, each of three equal intervals or hours, and of unequal
length, depending on the season.

The first watches of the night
commences at 6 p. m. The daytime is divided into 12 hours, from
sunrise to sunset. It is marked into four Hours59, and is designated as
the First Hour of day commencing at 6 a. m., the Third Hour of day at 9
a. m., the Sixth Hour of day at midday, and the Ninth Hour of day at 3
p. m. Only at the equinoxes are these hours of day and night equal.

Seasons

The Armanian language

has different phonetic values.

After the creation of the alphabet around 300 AD, there were different versions of orthography:

classical Armenian orthography (Armenian: Հայերէնի դասական ուղղագրութիւն (in classical) and Հայերենի դասական ուղղագրություն in reformed,Hayereni dasakan ughagrutyun; also known as traditional orthography and Mashtotsian orthography) is the orthography developed during the early 19th century for the Armenian language.
Today, it is used primarily by the Armenian diaspora (including all Western Armenian speakers and Eastern Armenian speakers in Iran), which has rejected the Armenian orthography reform in Soviet Armenia in the 1920s. The Armenian diaspora, some linguists and politicians allege political motives behind the reform.

Matenadaran

The Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts (Armenian: Մեսրոպ Մաշտոցի անվան հին ձեռագրերի ինստիտուտ (Mesrop Mashtots’i anvan hin dzeragreri institut)), commonly referred to as the Matenadaran (Armenian: Մատենադարան), is a repository of ancient manuscripts, research institute and museum in Yerevan, Armenia. It holds one of the world’s richest depositories of medieval manuscripts and books which span a broad range of subjects, including history, philosophy, medicine, literature, art history and cosmography in Armenian and many other languages.

Other aspects (such as a lot of ‘t’ letters and the occurences of two ‘9’-s in the middle of a word were not really appealing, with the VMS characteristics in mind.
Another document from the period 1619-1635 does not have those curls:

Following the symbol of eternity (see f68r) the intesting corresponding symbols of gods/goddesses are:

Anahit (Armenian: Անահիտ) was the goddess of fertility and healing, wisdom and water in Armenianmythology.[1] In early periods she was the goddess of war. By the 5th century BC she was the main deity in Armenia along with Aramazd.[2]

source http://www.aras.am/ArasNews/arasnews55.pdf:
Among Shirakatsi’s works the most important one is considered “Knnikon”, which contains “Easter Speech”, “Christmas Speech” and “Chronicle” including synchronized spatial tables of changeable and fixed calendars for 532 years. In them in separate graphs month counts of new years, spring equinox, 7-days, important Christian holidays of all years of a certain cycle of both changeable and fixed calendars are written. On the basis of these synchronized tables any Christian holiday date can be clearly defined.

Among Shirakatsi’s calendaric works an important one is “Patchen Tomari”, which is of great value not only on the history of Armenian Calendars but also on the calendars of neighbor nations: such as Egyptians, Jews, Syrians, Persians, Romans, Georgians, Macedonians and others.

In this work a calendar is included, which has a close relation with other calendar systems.

Shirakatsi formed a large number of tables and calendar cycles. Among the tables more attractive ones are “Tables of Lunar Cycle” where the exact date of new moon and full moon of the nineteenth-year cycle is given, i.e. the year, the day and the time (in hours and minutes) of new moon and full moon occurring is discovered.

And as the nineteenth-year phases of the moon are always repeated then all these tables can be used all the time. Out of Shirakatsi’s calendar cycles the most valuable is so called “Special cycle”, where the monthly movement of the moon through the phases is given, “Orbital Cycle”, where the movement of the moon in the Sun orbit is shown and another astronomical cycle under the name “Shade indicator”, where the duration of the light and the dark at nights of the lunar month are defined.

Shirakatsi’s works on Cosmography are of great value. The basic questions on Exact Sciences are included in it. These works give us an opportunity to learn about his views on Exact Sciences.
Following antique scientists Shirakatsi thinks that the perceptible world and all its substances
consist of the four really existing elements: land, water, air and fire. In his opinion the world is “a certain composition of mixed elements”.
Shirakatsi imagines the nature in the process of movement and change. The existing old education decomposes with the time and instead a new one occurs. On the basis of many examples from real life considered as a proof of it he comes to the following philosophic scientific conclusion.
“Existence is the beginning of extinction and the extinction is in its turn is the start of existence and as a result of this non-harmful contradiction the world continues to exist.
Shiraktsi’s point of view on Cosmography is also significant. The question related to the earth
shape interested the humankind for a long time. Various approaches were expressed in different time periods. In his cosmographic works Shirakatsi gives a peculiar explanation: “I think the earth is of an egg-shaped form, he writes, the ball-shaped yolk is in the middle, white is around it and the shell surrounds everything; the same way the earth is in the centre like the yolk, air is around it like the white and the sky surrounds everything like the shell.
Shirakatsi’s astronomical system is not heliocentric but geocentric.

Accepting the egg-shape of the Earth it was important to explain the issue of earth balance. This question was of great interest since the ancient times and different opinions were made; some people thought that the earth lay on a gigantic elephant, others considered that it lay on a huge whale, on seas, etc. Shirakatsi gives a very original explanation to this question. He finds that it is balanced by two opposite forces and he writes: “The Earth tends to go down with all its weight and the wind tries to raise it up with all of its power. That’s why the earth doesn’t fall down and the wind doesn’t raise it up”.
In his cosmographic work Shirakatsi tells about the Galaxy (the Milky Way) and tries to explain its main point. Criticizing all the legends of his time he gives a scientific explanation concerning that issue. According to him the Galaxy is the same as “the mass of densely possessed and weakly shining stars”.
Shirakatsi absolutely rejects conservative scientists’ points of view. Among them there are church priests who think that the moon has its own light. He finds that the moon doesn’t have its own light and obtains light from the Sun which reflects the light of the ether like a mirror. According to him it is related to the reflection of sunlight and the change of lunar phases. The sun is in the fifth zone of the sky, and the moon is in the 4th one. Therefore, the moon obtains the light from above, and as the sun and the moon are in perpetual motion round the earth at different speed they either approach or move away. During the period when the sun approaches the moon, its light cycle begins to diminish and in case of moving away it begins to enlarge.
Shirakatsi explains high and low tide of the oceans and seas by changes of lunar phases: during the full moon water level in the oceans and seas begins to rise and when diminishing to fall. In his cosmographic work Shirakatsi discusses also the solar and the lunar eclipses. According to him the solar eclipse occurs when the sun is in the northern hemisphere, and the Moon in the southern, the earth is between them and hiders the light penetration to the Moon then the lunar eclipse occurs. In the cosmographic work Shirakatsi criticizes Chaldean astrologists who assures that the fate of the people happy and unhappy, kind and unkind, rich and poor depends on the star under which
they were born. Shirakatsi considers such scientists’ statements nonsense and names them
witches.

In his works Shirakatsi also touches upon other issues concerning the natural phenomena: light and sound speed, causes of the rain, snow, thunder, lightning, springs, etc.
One of his valuable works is “Ashkharhatsuyts” (“Geography”), which includes the description of all the countries in the world discovered at that time. That is a great work in the World Geographical and Cartographical literature of that time. “Ashkharhatsuyts” consists of Introduction and two parts.In the introduction Shirakatsi determines the zones and temperature of the Earth defining the points of view existing in the science. In the first part he gives a general description of the Earth and in the second part there is a description of different countries known at that time. In the main part of “Ashkharhatsuyts” is the description of all the countries in the three continents known then: they are Europe, Africa and Asia. Here the author defines the boundaries of each described country, distinguishes the rivers, mountains and towns, etc.
Metrological works of Anania Shirakatsi are also of great interest: “about the length measures” and “about the weight measures”. His metrological works contain the basic measurements and concepts existing in Armenia then. It is notable that in the 7th century Armenia was an important center of Foreign International trade. Probably Armenian merchants needed some information book containing information about different nations, particularly Persian and Byzantine nations.
And Shirakatsi as it is known took the responsibility to form measurements and conceptions of his time and conscientiously realized it.
An important source on economic life of historical Armenia is Shirakatsi’s “Mghonachap”, where the ways of camel cades, which crossed Armenia in the 6-7th centuries are depicted.
Shirakatsi has also a little text referring to precious stones. He enumerates 33 various precious stones noting the colors and distinguishing characteristics of each.
Some historical evidence having a great value on socio-economic history of Armenia and
neighboring countries is given in “Chronology”. It begins with the part including ancient times taken from Movses Khorenatsi’s sources. One of the original and important parts of “Chronology” is the chronics of the kings of Sasanyan Persia, which begins with the period when the king Artashes Sasanid ruled and it is over with the king Khosrov, the son of Vormizd. The last part of “Chronology” is chronics of Roman and Buzantine emperors beginning with Julius Ceasar and ending in days of Justinian II (in 681).
Lilit Nazaryan, Lecturer, Department of Geology, YSU

“Herbals” – collections describing plants used for medicinal purposes – were among the ancient and medieval world’s most valued scientific texts, synthesizing a vast treasury of medical learning to facilitate scientific edification for scholar, bibliophiles, or practical consultation by physicians.

Abu Ja’far al-Ghafiqi (d. ca. 1165 CE) lived in the Arab-Islamic zone of the southern Iberian peninsula called al-Andalus, a land of many cultures, religions, and languages.

His Herbal reflects the diverse milieu in which he lived, drawing from ancient Greek sources like Dioscorides and Galen as well as over thirty other works from India as well as the Hellenistic and Islamic worlds. The manuscript reproduced in this edition was purchased in 1912 by Sir William Osler and is now housed in the Osler Library of the History of Medicine at McGill University. It has entries for herbal, mineral, and animal-derived drugs, illustrated by almost 400 coloured, hand-drawn images of plants and animals. A glossary of over 2,000 secondary entries provides synonyms in Greek, Sanskrit, Syriac, Persian, Berber, Old Spanish, Latin, Coptic, and Armenian, reflecting the international character of medicine and pharmacy at the time. Essays by eminent scholars discuss the physical features and history of the manuscript, the philological complexity of the text, al-Ghafiqi’s sources, the Andalusian and larger global contexts of the Herbal, and the illustrations accompanying the text. A remarkable document, The Herbal of al-Ghafiqi will be a cherished addition to the library of anyone interested in the history of pharmacological science or in the history of the Islamic world.

Gods / godesses

Anahit (Artemis) – The daughter or wife of Aramazd. Anahit was the most loved and honored Armenian goddess. She was mother-goddess. Anahit was sculptured with the child on her hands` with specific hair style of Armenians mothers or women and was called “Great Lady Anahit”.

Ancient Armenians believed that Armenian world was existing by Anahit’s will. Anahit was the cult of maternity and fertility. Anahit-worships were established in Eriza avan (region) and in Armavir, Artashat and Ashtishat cities . A mountain in Sophene district was known as Anahit’s throne (Athor Anahta).

Anahit (Armenian: Անահիտ) was the goddess of fertility and healing, wisdom and water in Armenian mythology. In early periods she was the goddess of war

The Persian Water Goddess Anahita

Anahita is the Persian goddess of water. She is also known as the Fertility Goddess, the Lady of the Beasts and the Goddess of the Sacred Dance. Anahita dominated the waters and ruled the stars and the fate.
She depicts the creative principle of females. Perceived with wings and accompanied by mighty lions, Anahita is often pictured with a bejewelled diadem of stars. She is also associated with lakes, rivers and waters of birth. She is the patroness of women and war goddess.

Anahita means “the immaculate one”. She is pictured as a virgin, donning a golden cloak and ornate in a diamond tiara. Her sacred animals are the dove and the peacock.

There are 2 communities on the Zoroasterian: one in India (the Parsi) and

Other smaller ethnic groups of Persians includes the Lari people of Larestan (who are mostly Sunni Muslims) and the Qizilbash of Afghanistan who are related to the Farsiwan and Azerbaijanis. In the Caucasus, the Tats are concentrated in Azerbaijan, Armenia, and Russian Dagestan and their origins are traced to Sassanid merchants who settled in the region.

In the Indian subcontinent the Parsis are a distinct ethno-religious community that are descended from Persian (largely Khorasani) Zoroastrians. There is a Zoroastrian sect settled mainly in western India, centered around Gujarat and Mumbai. The Iranis, another small community in India, are descended from more recent Persian Zoroastrian immigrants.

The Avesta is the religious book of Zoroastrians that contains a collection of sacred texts.

ARDVISURA: lit. “mighty Ardvi”: Brilliant waters; name of a river in Iran; name of an angel (Ardvi Sura Anahita) identified with the sacred Waters (Aban)

Anahita

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anahita

When Persia conquered Babylonia (in the 6th century BCE), Anahita began to show some similarities with the goddess Ishtar. Since then her cult included the practice of temple prostitution. During the reign of king Artaxerxes (436-358 BCE) many temples were erected in her honor. Locations included Soesa, Ecbatana, and Babylon

She was also know as Lady of the Lions, or Lady of the Beasts, she is associated with rivers and lakes, the waters of birth, and as such was also depicted carrying a water pitcher.

Anahit was called “the Lady,” Armenian [Agathangelos] Anahit tikin, Gk. [Agathangelos] Artemis despoina (E. Benveniste, Titres et noms propres en iranien ancien, Paris, 1966, 46); inscriptional Pahl. ʾnhyt ZY MRʿTʾ ( = bānūg “lady”) in the inscription of Kartīr KZ line 8; the “golden mother” (Arm. oskemayr, Agathangelos 809). The exact meaning of this epithet is unclear; it may refer to the golden corn and to fertility, or to a golden cult statue. Anahit possessed a great temple at Erēz, Gk. Eriza, in the province of Acilisene (Pliny, Natural History 5.34, 83; Strabo 11.16; Cassius Dio, 36.48, 53.5, calls the entire region Anaitis chōra); a hellenistic bronze head, believed to be from a statue of Anahit but more probably from a Roman temple, was found at Satala and is kept in the British Museum (B. N. Aṙakʿelyan,Aknarkner hin Hayastani arvesti patmuṭʿyan

…

The 19th day of the Armenian month is named after Anahit, and she was worshipped on the water-holiday of Vardavaṙ; until recently, cattle bearing the brand of a star or half moon were slaughtered during the festival by the Armenians of Dersim, in Turkey, and it is probable that Anahit had absorbed these cult symbols of the Mesopotamian goddess Ištar…

Another feminine divinity, Inanna the “Lady of Heaven” of Uruk, was worshipped in Armenia as Nanē (on Inanna generally, see H. W. F. Saggs, The Greatness that was Babylon, London, 1962, p. 21). Her cult had become established in Elam (W. Hinz,The Lost World of Elam, London, 1972, p. 97) and was probably spread by the Achaemenid armies to eastern Iran (on her cult in Sogdia, see W. B. Henning, “The Date of the Sogdian Ancient Letters,” BSOAS 12, 1948, pp. 601-15; in Kušan and Bactria, see J. Rosenfield, The Dynastic Art of the Kushans, Berkeley, 1967 and G. Azarpay, “Nanā, the Sumero-Akkadian Goddess of Transoxiana,” JAOS 96, 1976, pp. 536-42). To the west, in Phrygia, Nanā was revered as the daughter of the river Sangaris and the mother of Attis (Arnobius 5.6.12), a possible clue as to the meaning of numerous mother-and-child figurines found at Artašat (Gk. Artaxata) (B. N. Aṙakʿelyan, op. cit., pls. 84-86). Nanē had a temple in Armenia at Ṭʿil (Agathangelos 786); she may appear as a luminous, supernatural being in a medieval Armenian love story, “Yovhannēs and Aša” (G. Šerencʿ, Vanay saz II, Tiflis, 1899, pp. 112-17).

this symbol of Inanna is on Wikipedia:

Descr: Detail of a kudurru (stele) of King Melishipak I (1186–1172 BC), showing a version of the ancient Mesopotamian eight-pointed star symbol of the goddess Ishtar (Inana/Inanna), representing the planet Venus as the morning or evening star.

Nane (Armenian: Նանե, Nanė; Georgian: ნანა, Nana; Bulgarian: Нане, Nanė;Russian: Нанэ, Nanė) was an Armenian pagan mother goddess. She was the goddess of war, wisdom, and motherhood, and the daughter of the supreme godAramazd.
Nane looked like a young beautiful woman in the clothing of a warrior, with spear and shield in hand, like the Greek Athena, with whom she identified in the Hellenic period.
In Armenia and other countries, the name Nane continues to be used as a personal name.

Her principal seat was in Ashtishat (Taron), located to the North from Mush, where her chamber was dedicated to the name of Vahagn, the personification of a sun-god, her lover or husband according to popular tales, and had been named “Vahagn’s bedroom”.

Other temples and places of worship of Astghik had been located in various towns and villages, such as the mountain of Palaty (to the South-West from Lake Van), in Artamet (12 km from Van),[2] etc.

The unique monuments of prehistoric Armenia, “višap” vishaps (Arm. višap ‘serpent, dragon’) or “dragon stones”, spread in many provinces of historical Armenia – Gegharkunik, Aragatsotn, Javakhk, Tayk, etc., and are another manifastation of her worship [2]

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astghik

and more info here: “ Sumerian Information of the Annunaki — compared to the Anakim ”

Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia

During 1198–1375 Armenia had the Kingdom of Cilicia under Armenian rule.

Not to be confused with the Cilicia of 16th–14th century BC (as Kizzuwatna) and
12th–8th century BC (as Khilikku, Tabal, Quwê) until 546 BC.

The downfall of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia has influences with: Cyprus, France (house of Lusignans), Constantinople, Jerusalem and Egypt.